On Thursday, new evidence surfaced suggesting that the federal and state governments have not reached a decision about the controversial topic of state policing.
Advertisements
At the same time that this was happening, Vice President Kashim Shettima’s National Economic Council (NEC) met at the Presidential Villa without discussing the issue.
Despite a minute’s silence for the victims of the recent assaults in Benue, Plateau, and Kwara states—where almost 200 lives were lost—the NEC’s agenda did not include state policing, according to Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri.
Remember that the NEC, headed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, had already promised to return to the table with a final decision on the issue.
The governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, had previously stated that the formation of state police was well-received by all 36 states. He gave the public his word that the Council would reassemble and make a final announcement.
Advertisements
But Governor Diri said that long speeches on other important national issues meant that the topic of state policing would have to wait.
It is worth remembering that while President Bola Tinubu was gone in France lately, areas of the country, particularly Plateau, Benue, and Kwara States, were embroiled in a wave of violent attacks by gunmen thought to be herdsmen.
These herdsmen-related attacks have, during the current administration, struck no fewer than 22 states across Nigeria. Although the violence has mostly been focused in the North Central geopolitical zone, it has extended to neighboring regions, including portions of the South as well.
Advertisements
Authorities in Plateau State have recorded over 2,000 displaced people and over 100 casualties from the violence that rocked the Bokkos and Bassa Local Government Areas.
Similarly, in the Ukum and Logo local government areas of Benue State, a band of masked gunmen slaughtered more than a hundred innocent people.